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How to Spend Your Summer to Prep for the ACT and SAT

If you’re planning on taking the ACT or SAT in the fall of 2014, you should start studying over the summer.

No, this isn’t a joke! Though summer is usually the time you’re used to doing anything but studying, it’s also one of the best times for you to get on top of your ACT or SAT prep for the fall.

Even one hour a week will result in you having studied for around eight hours by the end of the summer, which is that much less time you’ll have to stuff into your busy school week.

Here’s how you can use the most of your summer time for ACT or SAT prep:

Have Fun With It

Studying doesn’t have to be boring or difficult. In fact, if you do it right, it can be really fun.

For example, we’ve written in the past about vocabulary apps that give you a word a day and provide games to help you learn it. You can use one of those or think about something else you’d like to learn about for ACT prep or SAT prep. There are SAT/ACT-specific apps as well as topic-specific ones.

With all the apps available on the market today, it’s likely you’ll find one you’ll be eager to download and use whenever you’re in the movie theater, waiting for that summer blockbuster to start.

Take an Online Test Prep Course

During the summer, taking a course is probably the last thing on your mind. Seems too much like school, right?

However, the great thing about an online ACT prep or SAT test prep course is that it can be done at your own pace.

There’s not a set schedule that requires you to be awake early or anything like that, and you can complete the course as you find them. Basically, you can take a test prep course with little interruption to your relaxed summer schedule.

Read Some New Material

Now that you don’t have teachers assigning you books you probably didn’t want to read, you can pick the ones you do have interest in.

Reading is one of the easiest ways to prep for the ACT/SAT.

It’s best if you pick websites, magazines, or books that are at or above your reading level, because that way you’ll grow your knowledge better instead of stagnating with nothing new.

It may not be on your mind to study this summer and do some ACT or SAT prep, but it should be because it puts you ahead of the game. With the myriad of options available to you that aren’t hard or time-consuming, there’s no real reason to object!

Frank McWilliams

Since joining Method Test Prep in 2005, Frank has helped hundreds of schools raise their students’ ACT and SAT scores. He has worked with private, public, charter, international, & online schools to provide affordable, high quality, and easy to use ACT & SAT prep. Frank understands the challenges that educators face, from time constraints to budget concerns, & works diligently to meet their needs.

*SAT is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. PSAT/NMSQT is a trademark jointly owned by the College Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product. None of the trademark holders are affiliated with Method Test Prep or this website.